AHH,
THE GOOD OLD DAYS
By Dick Kraus
Newsday Staff Photographer (Retired)
Back in the days before the digital revolution occurred and even
before the advent of 35mm cameras, the 4 x 5 Speed Graphic was
known as the news photographer's workhorse.
In use during
the 40's
through
the 60's,
these
cameras were boxy looking affairs.

There were
two shutters on these cameras. One was a Compur shutter mounted
on a lens board on the front of the bellows. This was comprised
of several thin metal leaves which were driven by spring tension.
You could adjust the tension on the springs to make the leaves
of the shutter open and close more quickly or more slowly.

The second
was a Focal Plane Shutter which was placed towards the back of
the camera, just in front of the film (which was known as the
focal plane.) The Focal Plane Shutter was a roll of rubberized
cloth that had several different sized openings which passed
in front of the film. The largest opening allowed more light
to reach the film and took longer to pass over the film, ergo,
a slow shutter speed. The thinner openings passed over the film
more quickly giving us a faster shutter speed. There was also
a tensioned coil spring that was adjustable to make each of these
openings go by the film faster or slower. Before making each
exposure, the photographer would have to decide what shutter
speed was required and then would roll the curtain to the spot
where the desired opening in the curtain would be set (you can
see the winding key for the Focal Plane Shutter curtain at the
upper rear of the camera body in the photo below.) Then you had
to adjust the spring tension to get the exact exposure.

Whichever
shutter you decided to use, it was necessary for the other shutter
be set in an open position. The front shutter was much
easier and convenient to use for news work, so the rear shutter
was always left open.

A Pacemaker Speed
Graphic. An exposed sheet of 4x5 film lies on the light box
next to it.

This
is the good part. Back in those good old days, the competition
among the various newspapers was very, very intense. Most
of the old news photographers got along, for the most part. But
if there was a major story breaking, it was not uncommon for
a
competitive
photographer to try to get an exclusive photo by whatever means
possible. In New York City alone, in those days, there were
about a dozen daily newspapers. On a big story, that meant a dozen
news photographers trying to beat out their competition. And,
oh yeah, let's not forget the 3 or 4 photo agencies that were
around,
then, too.

Just as it is today, there was often a lot of standing around and
waiting for the story to break. Standing in front of a police
precinct, waiting for a suspect to be brought out. Or hanging
around in front of a court
house waiting for a verdict. During the long wait, most of
us would put our heavy cameras on the floor or on the ground someplace
where we could grab them when the action started. Usually, the
cameras were all lined up nearby. It was during such times, that
our colorful brethren would resort to skullduggery
and would
sabotage
the other photographers so that he (yes, it was mostly an all
male fraternity in those days) would be the only one to get the
photo.
At an opportune moment, this photographer would set himself
down next to the spot where the others had lined up their cameras
until
the moment came when they would be put to use. When he was certain
that no one was looking, our friend would touch the lever that
released the rear shutter curtain which would then block the
light
from reaching the film when the front shutter was tripped.
These weren't today's single lens reflexes which would show the
problem
as soon as you held it up to your eye. These photographers
had to sight their picture through an auxiliary viewfinder and
there
was no way to see that the focal plane shutter had been tripped
unless you looked closely at the tiny dial on the side of the
camera.

If the villain was lucky, he might have been able to get to all
the other cameras and he would get the only shot. Of course,
his name was mud for a long time to come in that tight knit,
albeit competitive industry. And, if you ever fell victim to such
a dastardly act, it usually only happened once. After that, you
never let your camera
out
of
your sight. And even then, when the action started, the first
thing the old veterans did, was check to make sure that their
focal plane shutter curtain
hadn't been tampered with.

There were other ways to screw your competitor. A smear of ear
wax on the lens would put a camera out of business until the hapless
victim
developed
his film and saw the blurred result.
.
Oh yes, my young friends. The "Good Old Days" was truly a colorful
era.